By Monique Hepburn, Staff ReporterWESTERN BUREAU:
WHILE THE incidence of HIV/AIDS remains a serious concern in St. James, health officials in the parish are reporting some amount of success in their bid to contain the spread of the disease, which is now killing an average of 11 Jamaicans per week.
In an interview with The Gleaner on Thursday, Dr. Sheila Campbell-Forrester, the regional director of the Western Regional Health Authority, said that St. James was now benefiting from the HIV/AIDS prevention programmes that were in place to combat the spread of the disease. "I think that we are now beginning to reap the benefits of having started an early intervention programme," said Dr. Campbell-Forrester. "But at the same time I would caution that it is not a time for complacency."
SAFE SEXUAL PRACTICES
According to Dr. Campbell-Forrester, local health officials are upbeat as they now feel that they are making strides in the fight against the disease. She, however, warned that safe sexual practices should never be compromised. She proceeded to encourage health officials to continue to work hard to safeguard the future of Jamaicans in light of the pandemic.
"We still need to work hard at ensuring that our people hear the message and practise healthy lifestyles and healthy sexual living," advised Dr. Campbell-Forrester, despite the success of the preventative programme which averted some 100,000 cases of HIV/AIDS last year.
Dr. Yitades Gebre, senior medical officer (SMO) and executive director of the HIV/AIDS Control Project, told The Gleaner that Jamaica's preventative programme began in St. James in early 1990 and, to date, was especially successful with young people between 15 and 19 years old.
PREVENTION PROGRAMME
"We believe that the prevention programme has slowed down the number of new HIV infections in the parish, in particular in young people in the age group 15-19 years," Dr. Gebre.
According to the SMO, current cumulative figures for the parish stand at 1,273 since the start of the epidemic in the early 1980s. From this figure, more than 62 per cent of those infected have died. He pointed out that increased access to sex education has been very effective. "There is an increased access to voluntary HIV counselling and testing programmes in the parish, as well as community-based interventions," said Dr. Gebre.
There were a total of 183 new cases of AIDS reported from St. James in 2003. In the same year there were 117 (48 females and 69 males) deaths reported in the parish due to AIDS, indicating that there were on the average 10 AIDS death per month in the parish.
